Boom!

That's the sound of the language explosion that Zach has had over the past couple of months. I've actually heard a lot about a phenomenon where kids suddenly begin to excel at a new skill right after having a fever. I would say Zach's new language skills definitely took off right after his reaction to his MMR vaccine a few months back, which is very interesting. It seems as though it suddenly dawned on him that everything in his world has a label, and that if he wants something, or just wants to talk about something, he's going to have to figure out it's label. It's one of my most favorite stages of development because he comes out with the cutest little words. My favorite by far is that he calls Lexi "Tachi". As if their little bond weren't cute enough before, now they really have conversations with each other, and Zach can easily keep up. He starts off almost every day saying, "I ant (want) Tachi." "Tachi?" "Tachi?" If she's crying he'll say, "Otay, Tachi?"
Another favorite of mine is "bah-lloooon". I'd give that kid a million balloons just to hear him say the word. This is a good arrangement for both of us, because balloons are pretty much his favorite thing right behind his sister. We've actually had to "put a balloon down for a nap", blankets and all, just to get him to nap! (Don't worry, they got separate beds.)
The words are coming fast and furious. To give you an idea of how fast, just this week we were looking through a picture book and came to a picture of a flower. I said, "Zach, this is a flower. Can you say flower?" He tried but what came out sounded nothing like flower, so we moved on. About an hour later we were in the car and stopped by an enormous sun flower. Lexi and I were exclaiming about how big and beautiful it was and Zach said, "Mama, flowah!!"
Having Zach talking is so much fun. He's become so much a part of the gang now, and he's a really fun buddy to have around.
Speaking of fun...this was a gem from Lexi last night that I had to share:
Me: "Lexi, you've been doing a great job brushing your teeth, honey!"
Lexi: "Do you think I'm ready to be a Mommy yet?
Me: "Um, not quite, but you're doing a great job being a big sister!"
Lexi: "Yea, I still need to learn how to take care of children, and buckle my own car seat."
Me: "Yes, those are important skills to have in order to be a Mommy."
:)